It has been suggested several times that the surest way how to secure an exciting F1 race is to sprinkle the track with water. It looks like we had just about the right amount of water to create an exciting race. We had changing weather, we had changing strategies, we had the top drivers making mistakes, we had some spectacular crashes, we had few drivers scoring their first points this season and we also had tears. That was Monaco 2008.

Lewis Hamilton was the favourite to win this race but that was before the qualifying. To start from P3 was not the expected result but McLaren were confident the strategy will play in their hands. They were right, but it was the strategy Ferrari got wrong that helped at the end. To win a race in Monaco in such treacherous conditions requires some sublime skills and a fair share of luck at the same time. But looking back at the race, I must say he was three times lucky. First he hit the barrier, punctured his tyre and was lucky not to crash out of the race. Then thanks to “Trulli train” he returned from the pitlane in 5th place, still well within the reach of the front runners. And finally he managed to finish the race despite punctured tyre, probably from Rosberg’s car debris. His luck should however take nothing away from his performance. Unlike Raikkonen and Alonso for example he kept his head cool and secured his third Monaco win, first in Formula 1.

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F1Wolf

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Formula One season continues with Monaco Grand Prix. Here is what we know:

- Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen sport helmets with diamonds
- Toro Rosso will run their new car - the STR03 – for the first time
- The new car needs new gearbox and Sebastien Vettel will drop 5 places on the grid.
- The other Toro Rosso driver, Sebastien Bourdais, will not get the penalty as he is free to change his gearbox following his DNF in Turkey.
- Bridgestone will bring soft and supersoft tyres to Monaco
- This will be 200th Formula 1 Grand Prix race for Giancarlo Fisichella

Last year McLaren dominated the race in Monaco. Fernando Alonso won ahead of not so happy Lewis Hamilton. Felipe Massa finished third. Kimi Raikkonen broke his car in qualifying but still managed 8th place finish. How valuable that point proved to be at the end of the season. Only the top three finished the race on the same lap. (You can see my photos from 2007 Monaco GP here.)

The 2007 Monaco GP weekend will also be remembered as the place where it all has started … Following Hamilton’s team orders remarks at the press conference McLaren were investigated and later cleared. The first cracks in the Hamilton Alonso relationship surfaced. Mysterious white powder was found around Ferrari fuel tanks, Nigel Stepney’s fall from grace has began.

Let’s hope that this year will be all about racing. Ferrari are the team to beat right now, but Monaco was not very Ferrari friendly lately. The last Ferrari win dates back to 2001 (Michael Schumacher). The past performances do not however guarantee future results, so I don’t think it would be wise to bet against Ferrari even in Monaco this year.

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F1Wolf

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I know that all the teams are driven by the desire to get those few tenths that make the difference between F1 heroes and F1 zeros. But this is what happens when the teams continue fine tuning the ugly additions to their bodyworks, the ugly Dumbo wings get even uglier…

Yesterday I watched few videos from older Monaco races. Here is a clip from 1996, the famous wet race win for Olivier Panis in Ligier. How much nicer the cars were then, 12 years ago …

Even the new A1GP car looks better than the current F1 cars … The only light at the end of the tunnels is the fact, that what we see now is the end of the line for the current F1 cars and 2009 will put an end to these ugly winglets and wings and ears and all this. Season 2009 can’t come soon enough …

F1Wolf

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The neighbours at the Sidepodcast had their Sidepoddie Awards ceremony. After all the prizes were given both the Sidepoddie people spoke of their best bits of the 2007 season. Rascasse Ferrari moment no 2 made it to the list . A year on after The Great One (Mr. Michael Schumacher) famously parked his Ferrari in the La Rascasse during qualifying for 2006 Monaco GP, Kimi’s car came to stop at the same place in the qualifying for 2007 Monaco GP. Here is how F1 Wolf has seen one of the Sidepoddie best bits of 2007:

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The f1fanatic.co.uk runs an interesting series of articles on up and coming racing drivers called “Meet The Rookies”. I think this is a great idea. And if you do not want to be surprised in the future again with an “unknown” guy making a big impact on F1 as Hamilton is making this year I would recommend to go and read the articles in the “Meet The Rookies” series of f1fanatic website.

I add a bit myself to promote the young guns with this little photo gallery from GP2 race in Monaco 2007. I also make all these photos available for download in high resolution at the bottom of the article. The photos feature the following GP2 drivers – B.Senna, Chandhok, Conway, Garcia, Maldonado, Negrao, Petrov, Pizzonia, Rodriguez, Tahinci and Zaugg. Enjoy !

Bruno Senna

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I went through my picture archive and found this one from Monaco.

Photo: Copyright MP
Rubens and his helmet in cold weather.

You can download the picture here: Rubens Barrichello, Monaco 2007

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Here is the Monaco 2007 F1 GP screensaver

Monaco 2007 Screensaver

You may also check the Monaco photogallery here.

f1wolf

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